Cop kills ex, then himself in Brazil government building

RIO DE JANEIRO – A police officer shot his ex-girlfriend to death at her office at the municipal education department in Brazil’s capital and then killed himself Monday, authorities said.

Debora Tereza Correia, 43, was shot three times and died immediately. The officer’s body was found next to hers, Education Secretary Rafael Parente told The Associated Press.

He said the shooter had entered the building normally, identified himself and said he was going to the third floor to speak with Correia.

“The employees heard the shots and then found the two bodies lying in the hallway,” said Parente, who added that he was not in the building when the shooting happened. “Everyone is in shock. Several of them needed medical assistance.”

In a statement, the Civil Police, where the officer worked, said that it lamented the crime and that “the situation is being investigated.”

Violence against women is a grave problem in Brazil, where 1,173 women died last year in killings classified as hate crimes by the Brazilian Forum on Public Security.

On Saturday, a surveillance camera caught images of a man using a car to run over his girlfriend and drag her for 50 metres (yards) in Vargem Grande do Sul in Sao Paulo state. The man was jailed and faces charges of attempted femicide.